Dear Joe,
I'm a native of Alexandria, Virginia, about to be 62 and starting Social Security early, who knows? I'm also a union retiree (Teamsters Local 639). Further, I grew up in legal segregation until 1964 or so. I've read your writings on the folks you grew up with. I know them too. Our athletic leagues in the fifties and sixties included schools in Culpeper, Winchester and Fredericksburg, all in your area of Virginia. Away games before interstate highways took some time.
Here's what I think. Senator Obama will win a lot of votes in Virginia, maybe not take the state but make it close. My kids range in age from 32 to 38. Among them there are two mixed marriages and one lesbian couple. Most of the kids in their age range will look at their kids and vote for the future.
I used to think that race would never go away in this country. It will, not because of intermarriage but because two generations have grown up after legal segregation. That's ancient history to them. When I tell my grandkids I was at the I Have a Dream Speech they can't believe I'm old enough to have been there. The media narrative is about working class whites not voting for Obama is focusing on Appalachia, a nation unto itself. But Appalachia has a lot of people like my kids, grandkids and their friends who represent a significant and potent voting bloc.
I love your work.
Thanks,
Perry
Falls Church, Virginia
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Perry,
Interesting you should make that observation on race. This morning I was writing my presentation for an upcoming media conference in June. Here's an excerpt:
"Racism may be a wedge issue in some places, such as West Virginia, and it sure as hell will be used. At any rate, I’ve seen as much racism in Los Angeles as in my hometown in the Blue Ridge mountains. And maybe one of the best kept secrets in America is just how many rednecks have mixed race children or nephews and nieces, etc. I have two myself. A couple of generations have come along since the Sixties. But pundits and media sanctioned authorities, no few of them black, still dine out on broad Sixties era generalizations."
In art and labor,
Joe
